Skies of Eden [Space Voxel Sandbox]

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(I realized I should probably just make a new thread now that I've gotten a plan together)

Skies of Eden

Skies of Eden would be a multiplayer voxel-based space sandbox where you could build anything you want. It would have procedurally generated planets, and you could deploy tanks and ground craft. You would also be able to create large stations.

Planets

Planets would be generated as soon as you hopped into a sector with one. The planet generator would first generated an image of the planet to be shown outside of it's atmosphere, then the actual planet chunks itself would be generated based off the values from the planet image generator (for example: an orange gassy planet would have orange/dusty terrain). The chunks would be large hexagons that would be loaded and unloaded as players passed near them, rather than rendering the whole thing at once, which would save a lot on performance. The player wouldn't be able to see the chunks loading in as the atmosphere would cloud their vision until the chunks were loaded (kinda like a loading screen).

<-- A close example of how chunks would work

The chunk layout on the ground would not actually be a sphere, rather it would all be a flat plain. However, the chunks would load so that it would appear to be one continuos sphere.

(Note: Planets will most likely not be in the first alpha release)

Weapons and Turrets

Energy Weapons

Energy Weapons will only use ship power, and have no ammo costs

Cannons: Broadside close range cannons that have little penetration, but a lot of destructive power.

Beams: Long range weapon with high penetration, but also high power cost and recharge time.

Pulse: Kind of like a wave or something, good for EMP weapons.

Physical Weapons

Physical Weapons do more damage than energy weapons, but require power and ammo

Missiles: Self explanatory. Literally just missile pods.

Mines: Again, self explanatory. Space mines that can have stealth modules in exchange for less damage.

Bolts: Sort of like a railgun. Shoots a single shell that has high penetration and explodes once inside an enemy ship.

Energy weapons can also have effects added, such as EMP or anti-shield. This will greatly reduce their actual block damage, but will give it a useful effect for combat.

Shield Systems

Shield systems will not absorb all damage. Instead, they will take only the brunt of the damage, and the player can choose where to focus the most shielding. Anti-shield weapons can briefly weaken enemy shields so that their ship takes more damage.

Stations

Players will be able to make stations in SoE. These stations can have many uses, but are vulnerable to enemy forces. All factions will be allowed to have 1 "home station", where they can dock their ships and respawn. It will serve as their hub, and cannot be damaged. However, when a sector has a faction's home station in it, the sector will not automatically spawn resources (like asteroids) over time. This is to encourage players to spread out and make bases in other sectors. Factions can also claim planets using a claim block. This claim block will be how faction members can manage their forces on the planet and can provide a real time map of loaded chunks if they have support satellites. Planets cannot be destroyed, but they can be captured by an enemy faction if they break the claim block.

Resource Gathering

Players will have to mine asteroids for resources in order to make stations. Eventually, they will be able to create mining and shipyard stations in order to boost production.

Mining stations will automatically mine nearby asteroids, and shipyard stations will automatically process materials and can build ships from those resources on demand.

AI

Players will be able to create AI fleets, which can patrol and assist in combat. Eventually, there will also be NPC crew mechanics and lua scripting.

What We Need

We will need programmers, artists, and modelers. The game will be in the Unity engine, as I feel it is best for this type of game.